1/31/24 - House Republicans Move To Impeach Homeland Security Secretary

Early Wednesday morning, lawmakers voted along party lines, to send two articles of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas to the House of Representatives

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - House Republicans voted along party lines today, to move toward impeaching the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayokas,for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws.

The homeland security committee debated all day on Tuesday and well into the night before recommending two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. 

The committee Republicans voted in favor, while the Democrats unified against, 18-15.

Mayorkas sent a letter to the Republican chair of the House committee on homeland security before the hearing began, and dismissed the impeachment process against him as “politically motivated”.

The Republican chair of the committee, Mark Green of Tennessee, criticized Mayorkas’s letter as an inadequate response to concerns about the situation at the US-Mexican border. 

Democrats say Republicans were making a farce out of the impeachment process by rushing to oust a cabinet official without showing any wrongdoing and that House Republicans have presented no clear evidence that Mayorkas committed high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the requirement for impeachment. 

Now that the Republican-controlled committee has advanced the resolution, the House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has indicated that the full chamber will vote on impeaching Mayorkas in the coming days. Even if the resolution passes the House, it is expected to fail in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority.